Nutrition for the New Year: Small Changes = Big Impact © Syda Productions I Dreamstime Dont skip breakfast! Enjoy a healthy meal and start your day right. © Syda Productions, Dreamstime The dancer’s dietitian shares her top ways to get to a healthy weight without going hungry. By Emily C. Harrison MS, RD, LD of Dance Informa and DancerNutrition. Too often people start off the New Year with plans for big, sweeping changes. Big goals are great; however, real lasting change can be more effectively tackled by making small changes overtime. Little changes add up, leading to big results that are easier to sustain. Pledge to eat breakfast Meal timing matters in metabolism! Jump-start your metabolism by eating breakfast within one hour of waking. You are coming off an overnight fast. Eating a healthy breakfast sends an important message to your body’s metabolism. Breakfast eaters have lower body weight and body fat percentage. In a weight loss study, big breakfast eaters were shown to have lost more weight and inches from their waist than those who didn’t eat breakfast and got more of their calories at night1. Another study reported that participants burned more fat and had increased satiety when they ate a low glycemic index breakfast pre-exercise2. The body needs carbohydrate in the system to burn fat, and carbs increase athletic performance so the morning is the best time to eat whole grains. Don’t use your busy schedule as an excuse. Get up five minutes earlier and eat! Pledge to choose beverages thoughtfully Just 100 extra calories per day can potentially lead to 10 pounds of weight gain in a year. In the U.S., people on average get an additional 155 empty calories per day from sweetened beverages including soda, coffee drinks, energy drinks and sugar-laced smoothies3. A popular coffee chain’s Egg Nog Latte has 460 calories and 21 grams of fat. It is nice to have an occasional warm winter treat. A quick check discovered that the regular Hot Chocolate has 120 calories less than the White Hot Chocolate at this same coffee shop4. Brewed coffee doesn’t have any calories. Check the nutrition facts for your favorite beverages and watch portions. Beverages with added protein can be a very high calorie (and expensive) way to get protein. At a national chain, even the “lean” smoothies have 300 calories. The high protein smoothies have between 400-800 calories with 30-40 grams of powdered protein. The muscle building response to protein intake is shown to be good up to 20 grams per meal/ snack, but protein is not used for muscle building at the 30-40 gram range. Excess protein at higher levels is burned for energy or stored as fat5. Distribute protein from real food throughout the day and drink lots of water, not sugary beverages. Pledge to join the Meatless Monday movement This global movement started in 2003 and has grown to become a hip, star-studded thing to do6. But don’t go meatless on Mondays just to be cool. Even if you aren’t ready to become a flag waving vegan, avoiding meat and dairy even just once a week is one of those small changes with big impact. Eat more plant-based foods because non-meat eaters’ weight and Body Mass Index are significantly lower than meat eaters. They have an easier time with weight management. Non-meat eaters have lower levels of C-reactive protein, which is a measure of inflammation and a factor in chronic disease. They have the lowest risk for heart disease which is the number one killer of women in the U.S. They have significantly lower risk for cancer and diabetes. Groundbreaking research by Dr. Neal Barnard has shown that plant-based eating is better for the brain, and has a memory protective effect. Choosing plant-based foods is also one of the best ways to save the planet. Greenhouse gas emissions for a vegan diet are 41.7 percent lower than a typical meat laden Western diet7. Don’t worry, non-meat eaters still get plenty of protein from beans, nuts, seeds, vegetables and grains. Plant-based recipes are delicious, filling, low cost and easy to prepare. Make your health a priority this New Year by pledging to fuel your body with food that doesn’t come from a box, a powder, a bar or passed through a car window. Pledge to get a new cookbook and take a moment to scroll the recipes on the Meatless Monday’s website. Yes, it takes a little planning, and a little extra time, but it is possible. We all lead busy lives in this hectic modern world. “Those who think they have no time for healthy eating, will sooner or later have to find time for illness”8. You are worth it.
Posted on: Wed, 31 Dec 2014 16:20:23 +0000
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